The patterned red brick is Victorian, the rooftop terrace has a view of the CN Tower and the asking price is $6.25-million, but all anyone really wants to talk about is chef Grant van Gameren’s pintxos.
The guests at a late September gathering on the rooftop at 314 Palmerston Blvd. in Toronto are too fixated on the plates of Basque delicacies landing on the bar to ogle the real estate in any overt way.
That’s all part of the plan, say the agents of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, who are marketing the property to deep-pocketed buyers.
“Come and see this house alive with energy,” real estate agent Paul Maranger says of the impulse to throw a rooftop soirée at sunset.
A three-storey urban townhouse built behind the façade of a 19th-century Baptist rectory in Little Italy is a rare enough offering to justify an asking price above $6-million, he believes. Still, it’s relatively rich for the neighbourhood near College and Bathurst Streets. The house previously changed hands at the end of 2013 for $3.47-million.
The townhouse is part of a development by builder Joe Brennan, who transformed a landmark church on College Street into a cluster of city homes with soaring ceilings, spectacular entertaining spaces and hidden bat-cave parking.
To help potential buyers envision life south of Bloor Street, Sotheby’s consulted with trend hunter Carly Stojsic. She brought in celebrity chef van Gameren, of Bar Raval fame. His recent ventures include El Rey Mezcal Bar in Kensington Market and Pretty Ugly in Parkdale.
The evening is about giving guests an adventurous culinary experience without the intimidation, she says.
Chef van Gameren genially encourages questions about the skewered shrimp, layered sardines and translucent slices of jambon. About one-quarter of the menu is vegetarian. Each square of ethereal Basque cheesecake is topped with a dab of cherry jam and set on “an anise leaf from my own garden,” he explains.
“It’s a culinary experience when you can see artists gingerly put these creations together. It’s even more interesting when you have bearded, tattooed guys serving them on Spanish plates,” Ms. Stojsic says.
Which is not to say that the vibe is meant to be approachable – it’s still exclusive – but cooler than some wealthy patrons are used to.
“We showed that we understand the community.”
There are prospective buyers who could slide effortlessly into this niche, according to the Sotheby’s team of Mr. Maranger, Christian Vermast and Fran Bennett.
The same trilogy recently sold Integral House in Rosedale – asking price $19.5-million – to a high-profile couple with multiple houses around the world.
A buyer from the United States or overseas may also covet a turnkey townhouse, Mr. Maranger says. The city has long been attractive to international buyers, but a shift to Toronto from Vancouver is likely to intensify after the Government of British Columbia imposed a 15-per-cent tax on real estate purchases by foreign buyers.
The new owners could also come from the ranks of downsizing baby boomers who live in more traditional neighbourhoods such as Rosedale and Forest Hill. Many people in that demographic are trading large houses for luxury condo units in areas with a more lively cultural scene.
“They probably wear sneakers and a T-shirt to work,” Mr. Maranger says. “Bar Raval is 20 metres from this house.”
Or the buyer could come from the ranks of young entrepreneurs and creative types who already hang out in the bars and cantinas of nearby Little Portugal and Kensington Market.
If any of the guests are suddenly moved to submit an offer on the three-storey house with four bedrooms and six bathrooms, Sotheby’s agents are there in the mix, but they’re talking about a recent road trip through Italy, not the double wall ovens in the kitchen.
Ms. Stojsic says that high-net-worth and ultrahigh-net-worth clients today are often more interested in experiences than ostentation. Their focus is on best living practices and generating ideas.
“I think that treating audiences and clients like they’re only consumers is dangerous.”